I don't get as many comments as I'd like to some times, so I'm doing something a little different. Instead of making a journal entry about me and what I'm up to, I'd rather invite anyone and everyone to just leave comments about themselves and what they're up to.

Don't hold back, and don't feel the need to stick to standard prose either--I'll accept comments in the form of haiku or limericks, so long as they're about what you're up to or what you're feeling at the moment!

Cheers, and bonne chance!

So, several years ago, I signed on and created a profile. I saw the price for 3, 6 and 12 month subscriptions, and decided to wait for more important bills to be paid off. Hence, I ... still don't have a paid membership.

With the profile I have, though, I've seen and been seen by classmates from 1993. (Gosh, why is that sounding more and more like 1893 every day?)

Also, with the profile I have, I've been able to find out the fellows I knew were cads and broke all the girls' hearts are as unmarried as me. (Yes!!! Justice! ...Partial, at least.)

Today, I decided to see if any of the girls I had crushes on back in the day were registered. Bad move--all married.

With that realization comes all the standard trap. I wonder how I managed to get myself out of so many loops...how did I end up so separated from my class, my generation? Where are the others in my situation? How...How do I "catch up" with the, if not happier, more contented people I grew up with?

Then, a song comes up and gently taps me on the shoulder...A song which someone posted on Youtube, and to which I would link--if the damn thing weren't rendered useless by smilies. Instead, I'll just say it's by Todd Rundgren, and it's called "God Said". It's a gentle song, but one that slaps my face, grabs my collar and snaps me back to my usual ready-to-laugh-at-my-life self.


*A term I use because I'm clinging desperately to my youth.

I meant to take the weekend off from writing. Since I have been feeling better through what Ludacris would refer to as "Release Therapy", I've been feeling friskier toward it. Simply put, I can't do satire, but I'm going to attempt it anyway. Nothing feels better than being a smart-ass (or dumbass, depending on your point of view) and *knowing* that's what you're being while you're writing. In short, it lets me be me, and it's helping me not to worry about other people's perceptions.

"I feel so much surer now that everybody else is wrong" as (I think) Todd Rundgren sang on Utopia's album Deface the Music. (Good little Beatles parody album. I recommend it.)

1. The major component is sarcasm. I consider sarcasm to be the witticisms of the witless. Case in point, go back in my journals and find my encounter with that kid from Arizona. He was being sarcastic about me, and I found no wit whatsoever in his original writings about me, nor in his responses to me. (I bet he's wondering, now that he's graduated college, why his career isn't going the way he'd like it to...)

2. It is far too easy. I said that, in a way, in point one. However, I think point two deserves to reiterate it, and to add examples;

--There is a representative in the US Parliament (I know, it's either Senate or Congress, but I don't know which one he's in off the top of my head, and I can't remember the catch-all word for both Houses) named Boehner. I disagree with him on several issues I consider vital. Instead of calling him out on these issues, as a satirist, I could sit back and simply call attention to his name. I could even perhaps add something pithy like "I think I know who's going to replace Bob Dole in a certain set of advertisements in the future...!"
--When John McCain, a Senator who had me seriously thinking about a return to the Republican party at one point (long, looooooong ago) was speaking about the "...Me first, country second crowd in Washington," I was *itching* to satirize that. But I told myself, "Hold on. Either he or a member of his constituency will stand up and accidentally do their own satire." ...Sure enough, here's the health care "debate"! Repeated refrains I'm hearing from "conservatives"---"Sure, this will help the less fortunate. But what about *meeeeee*?!? *I'm* happy with **my** health care plan!"

".......Thank you, and good night", I say without having to do my stand-up routine--as I've thought about attempting before. I *won't* do anything I consider too easy. So, how am I going to get up on stage to make fun of people who make fun of themselves?

Oh, I suppose I could join ranks with Trey Parker and Matt Stone, or others who have the philosophy, "For some reason, you just can't make fun of liberals in this country." ....But, statements like that make them *ripe* targets for my sat-*ire*. "Yeah? Sez who? I've been a liberal all my life, and had to flee the Republican sphere before I could even vote because those people 'couldn't' (but *did*, you morons) make fun of me."

And another thing--I'm not the slightest bit happy calling people "morons". Then again, I suppose it's the verbal equivalent of the swift kick in the tail that would get their attention....and I wouldn't be happy doing that, either. Besides, people get more upset at you for trying to get their attention than at the impending disaster you're trying to call to their attention. "Look, Trey, Matt et. al....Liberals ain't the problem in this country, and as I heard you imply on South Park, not even 'Ultra-' (whatever that means) '-Liberals' are in favor of this ongoing drug war. Are you making satire, or are you trying to make 'Libertarians' (whatever *they* are) look utterly stupid?" ...That would make them more upset at me than trying to tell them that their beloved "Free Market" is at the mercy of not-so-benevolent people who don't care about our civil liberties in the slightest. Trust me on this--I don't think Socialism will change that, either. Those not-so-benevolent people would get out of the free market and worm their way into government programs--and our civil liberties would remain threatened.

We have to be vigilant, and we can't limit the scope of our satire. And *that* will make it too hard. I won't do anything that's too hard, either.

I went to Senator McConnell's office today and spoke with his office manager. The meeting went *swimmingly* well. (For those needing to use translation services, that last sentence actually means, "The meeting was very cordial and rational.") The manager told me that this topic is "bringing people out of the woodwork". It appears that most of us are what I've heard called "middle-of-the-road". Today, I learned that I can use the word "us" when referring to the "middle of the road" in politics. I am reluctant to take that label even, as the likes of Lou Dobbs and Bill O'Reilly claim to speak for those folks--and I disagree with them on just about every position they have.

I gave her that quote I overheard on the news about how someone was concerned that government was getting into God's decisions on life and death. I told her in my opinion that while the statement the protester made was indeed true, governments since their implementation have been muscling in on God's territory--it's nothing new. I backed that up by telling her that governments have declarations of war (which I added to her that I do not oppose) and they have death penalties (which I also added that I do not oppose--besides, a heinous enough crime deserves a heinous punishment. Death is death, and it's never a good thing, but we ultimately have no way around it). (At this revelation, she raised her eyebrows. I told her that I try not to accept labels from others, but I consider myself liberal. I reached that decision by reading some John Locke, but departing with him on limiting the concept of Liberty to white, land-owning Christian males. I figure, I said, that if one has a brain and a pulse, one has a birthright to liberty--property ownership, gender and religion aside.)

I told her I am not afraid of my taxes being raised if this passes--just so long as I can get health care and get into the position to pay taxes once again. I have heard, I told her, self-professed conservatives telling liberals to put their money where their mouths are. I am one who does. At every job I've ever held, I said, I marked that little line on the W-2 that says "Any additional amount you wish to be withheld," with either the number 5 or 10. I am willing to chip it in voluntarily, because I have grandparents in retirement, and I want to make sure they're funded. Not just my grandparents, though--yours and everyone's. I like to think that extra 5 or 10 dollars I pitched in helped train soldiers, too--helped with their care when they were injured, and helped protect them when they went into battle.

All this I told her, and I told her about Lewis Black's comment about Mitch McConnell's appearance on Meet the Press. The Senator related a story of a friend of his had a friend in Canada who had to die because the province's government decided the fellow was too old to support. She had never heard of Lewis Black before, and I told her that he is an angry comedian who said, "A friend of a friend? That's not even enough to substantiate an urban legend." My telling her this further released the tension I sensed, and she said, "That's actually fair." It appears Senator McConnell would agree with the assessment. She told me the Senator is a very deliberating man who keeps his office walls covered with every political cartoon about him--both positive and negative, as he has a sense of humor about himself. I told her that I did not envy the Senator's position as a public servant, and that I realized that with cameras on you and limited time to speak, you don't always get to be as eloquent as you would like to be.

I am now feeling the hope that the scoffing people are mocking "Obamatons" for. Hard nosed scoffers are right--no president can bring hope. However, I found that hope by merely being an individual reaching out to a Senator who is (supposedly) in opposition to the party I joined. To close with one more thing I told the office manager, I don't know how *independent* my mind is. I just know that it's a curious one--and it impels me to look into anything I hear anyone saying. To me, that is far more important than the bragging right of independence.